


The Hollow Trail

by Ada_Rose



Series: Harry Potter [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Black Family Drama (Harry Potter), Black Family-centric (Harry Potter), Bonding, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Canon Compliant, Death Eaters, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kinda, Morally Ambiguous Character, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Possible Out of Character, Sentient Cave, no betas we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25175884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ada_Rose/pseuds/Ada_Rose
Summary: (Set during book 5)Sirius gets trapped in a cave with none other than Bellatrix Lestange and Narcissa Malfoy. Will they manage to escape or will they end up killing each other first. Or maybe the cave itself will kill them all before they even get the chance.
Relationships: Bellatrix Black Lestrange & Narcissa Black Malfoy, Regulus Black & Narcissa Black Malfoy, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Sirius Black & Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Narcissa Black Malfoy
Series: Harry Potter [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1938784
Comments: 1
Kudos: 45





	The Hollow Trail

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve had this WIP for so long and I’m very happy that it is finally finished. I did have more planned with this concept so if you want more please let me know.

On the outskirts of England, there is a cave. Well, it’s more of a series of caves, interwoven like a weave, a labyrinth of tunnels. To the muggle world, it’s a hazard and a danger. Most who venture into the caves do not come back out and those who do have gone mad resulting in them dying anyway about a week later. Signs have been placed to warn travelers to stay away, and most do. The few who don’t could be placed into two categories. The bold, who desire the glory of being the first to exit the caves with their sanity intact. And the curious, those who would risk their lives for the knowledge of what exactly kills all who enters and drives the survivors to insanity. But neither group tends to succeed due to a very simple reason. The caves are alive and they are very, very hostile. 

Most of the wizarding world does not know these caves exist. But to a select few, it is known as the Hollow Trail. They do not know much more than the muggles do, but they are almost certain that if a witch or wizard travels through the Hollow Trail with their life and sanity intact, they may go past any wards without detection. If you control the Trail, you can go anywhere and no one will even notice until it’s too late. One of the few wizards who knew this was Albus Dumbledore and he was very concerned, because it just so happens that another of the select few was the Dark Lord Voldemort himself. 

If Voldemort took control of the Trail, he could create a tunnel to Hogwarts and the Ministry, and plan a surprise attack. It was the job of the Order of Pheonix to make sure that doesn’t happen. This particular mission was handed to none other than Sirius Black, an escaped convict for a crime he didn’t commit. He’s been stuck in his family house for months and was more than willing to take up this assignment if it meant getting out of Grimmauld, even for just a few days. The assignment was relatively simple. Get to the Hollow Trail before the Death Eaters and close up the entrance before they get there. 

Simple, if not for the fact that by the time he arrived, two Death Eaters beat him to it. Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, who also happened to be his cousins. The following battle did result in him closing off the entrance, but with him and the two witches inside, trapping all of them in the caves. 

***

“What are we gonna do?!”, Sirius exclaimed.

“Sirius, watch your tone”, Narcissa scolded. She was standing next to her sister, who had made sure to be as far away from the traitor as possible while still being in her sight.

“Oh, I’m sorry Cissy.”, Sirius mocked, “Here I’ll fix it.  _ What the fuck are we gonna do?!” _

“Sirius!”

Bellatrix snarled, “Don’t waste your time with the blood traitor, Cissa. I say we kill him now and find a way out ourselves”

“Oh I’d like to see you try”, Sirius bit back. 

“Wait-”

“Avada kedavra!”, Narcissa was interrupted by her sister, who wasted no time to cast the killing curse at her cousin. Sirius insticvly lept to the side, but there was no curse to dodge. No green light.

“What?”, Bellatrix stared at her wand. Why didn’t it work? She never failed at an Unforgivable since she first started training under the Dark Lord. What went wrong? Think, Bella! Unforgivables only work when you truly mean it, so why...unless...no! Sirius was a traitor! He deserved it! He deserved worse! She tried the curse again. And again. Neither attempt worked.

Narcissa took out her own wand and pointed it at the entrance, which was currently blocked off by rubble. 

“Bombarda”, she muttered. Nothing happened. 

Sirius tried as well, “Bombarda!”, he said with much more power in his voice. It didn’t make a difference. 

“There’s something about this cave that’s blocking our ability to use our magic”, Narcissa realized, putting her wand back into her robes. Sirius did the same and after a moment of hesitation, so did Bellatrix. 

“Bloody brilliant”, Sirius said, “The once time I actually get to leave headquarters and I end up stuck in a cave with you two, and I can’t even use magic to protect myself!”

“I’m not exactly pleased with the arrangement either”, Narcissa agreed, “But you don’t have to defend yourself if we also can’t use magic.”

“Like Bella couldn’t kill me with her bare hands if she wanted”

“Don’t call me that”, Bellatrix hissed.

“Would you prefer it if I called you Trixie?”

“You little-”

“Enough!”, Narcissa shouted, reaching her limit. Sirius and Bellatrix immediately stopped and turned their attention to her, “Fighting among ourselves will get us nowhere! We all want to get out of here, right? To do that we’re going to have to work together.”

“What!? Cissa you can’t be serious!”

“No that’s me”

“Shut it!”, Sirius put his hands up in surrender, trying (and failing) to hide his amusement, “Work with the blood traitor?”

“I’d rather work with him than die in a cave”

“The Dark Lord-”

“Doesn’t have to know”

“You- you would lie to the Dark Lord?”

“If it meant keeping my life, than yes”

“I mean, I’m in”, Sirius added, “Usually I’d be against working with Death Eaters but I have a godson I need to get back to so…”, he looked expectantly at Bellatrix. 

Bellatrix screamed in frustration, “Fine! But as soon as we’re out of here, we’re enemies again!”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way”

***

The caves trailed on for much longer than Sirius thought. He thought they’d have to walk until they eventually found an exit, but life could never be simple could it? Before he knew it, they were lost in the countless tunnels, and he could’ve sworn the walls moved. It was if the cave itself wanted to keep them trapped. A few minutes ago they came to an area where the cave splits into five different tunnels, but each time they went through one they ended up back at the split. They already tried four of them and there was one more left. 

“Should we even bother?”, Bellatrix wondered, “We’ve been going around in circles! Why would this one be any different?”

“Because it’s the only way left.”, Narcissa said

“Yeah we tried going backwards”, Sirius added, “Let’s just try it”

Bellatrix groaned but followed them through the tunnel. 

Sirius found himself grinning. Seeing her like this, not in a murderous rage but rather simply annoyed, reminded him back when he was a kid, before Hogwarts. His parents were always awful, but there was a time where Bellatrix Lestrange was just Bella Black, his older cousin who taught him hexes to mess with their uptight relatives and snuck him sweets during family meetings. Bella, Andy, Cissa, Siri, and Reggie; they grew up together. It was the five of them versus the world. And then they grew up. 

Sirius doesn’t regret being sorted in Gryffindor, nor does he regret becoming friends with the Marauders. But every now and then he finds himself missing those days, before this whole mess happened. Now look at them. Andromeda left, Sirius was arrested, Bellatrix and Narcissa are involved with the Death Eaters, and Regulus...no one knows what happened to Regulus. 

Sirius snapped back into reality when Narcissa and Bellatrix stopped walking. He stops too, catching himself from bumping into his cousins, and looks around. They were back at the split. 

“Dammit!”, he shouted, his voice echoed throughout the caves.

“Now what?”, Bellatrix asked no one in particular, crossing her arms.

“I- I don’t know”, Narcissa sighs, “We’re trapped”, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a soft glow and turned to get a better look at it. The glow became a shining light and the three of them had to cover their eyes. When it dimmed down, Narcissa was the first to recover and see what has appeared before them. She looked at it and Sirius and Bellatrix heard her cry out. 

“Cissa!”, Bellatrix shouted, “What is it?!”

Sirius looked and froze, “Reggie?”

The ghost of Regulus Black stared at the trio. He looked exactly like the last time Sirius saw him- barely an adult who has to carry the weight of his family’s expectations. It was a heavy burden and he had to carry it by himself.

‘And who’s fault is that?’, a nasty voice Sirius’ head reminded him. Sirius told it to shut up and returned his attention back to his brother. 

Regulus looked at Narcissa, “Cissa?”

Tears were running down her face, “It’s me, Regulus, I’m right here.”

The ghost just looked at her in confusion, “Why did you leave me, Cissa?”

“What?”

“You left. Everybody leaves, Andy, Sirius”, another blow, another pang of guilt in Sirius’ stomach, “But you promised you would stay, but you didn’t. You abandoned me, just like everybody else.”

‘He has a right to be angry’, the voice was back, ‘You all forgot about him. Little Reggie, so young, so forgettable. Maybe if you tried harder, maybe if you were a better brother, this wouldn’t have happened.’

It was right, Sirius had failed. Regulus is dead, gone forever, and it’s all his fault.

‘My fault, my fault, my fault-’, Sirius felt lightheaded, weaker, as if something was draining his energy. That’s when it hit him. He was used to having a voice in his head, his own doubt and guilt. But this was literally a voice in his head. Fighting to keep his eyes open, he looked at his cousins. Bellatrix looked pretty much the same, but Narcissa didn’t. In fact she was frozen in place, not taking her eyes off of the ghost. She looked ill, skin pale and eyes cloudy. 

“Cissa!”, despite being right next to her, he shouted, “Whatever you’re hearing, it’s not true! It’s not Regulus! It’s the cave!”

Narcissa blinked once, trice, three times. Each time, her eyes became more clear, like she was waking up. She slowly, but steadily, wiped the tears from her eyes and faced the fake Regulus.

“I love you, Regulus”, she said, “Not even death can make me stop loving you, but you’re wrong. I didn’t abandon you, I never could. I was there through every step of the way, and when we held your funeral, I was there too. I will always be here.”

The spirit that looked like the deceased Black heir tilted its head, then smiled at her. He vanished in a bright light and the five caves were now one, a clear path. 

“What was that?”, Bellatrix demanded, voice shaky. 

‘Huh’, Sirius thought, ‘Maybe it did affect her after all’.

“That was the Trail”, he replied, already feeling better “It used our already existing guilt and amplified it, so much so that it actually harmed us. I’m guessing Narcissa was its main target, which was why she was stuck in a trance. We got some side effects too by being close enough for it prey on our guilt too”

Bellatrix scoffed, “Maybe that’s true for you, but I have no guilt for Regulus’ death. He deserved what was coming to him”

Anger bloomed in Sirius’ chest, “How can you say that?!”

“He knew what he was getting into, and he should've known better than to run. He was a coward, and was given a fate deserving of cowards.”

Narcissa frowned but didn’t say anything. This was one of the main reasons she irritated Sirius so much. Besides being so uptight, she was too docile. Her sister just insulted her favorite cousin and she’s not doing anything to defend him. Sirius opened his mouth to do it himself, but paused. He had no right to call out Bellatrix for calling Regulus a coward when he himself has called his little brother the same thing. 

So Sirius just glared, “Can we move on now?”

“Certainly”, Narcissa agreed, “But be extra careful. The cave itself is against us, who knows what else it’ll do”

With that happy thought, the trio walked down the newly made cave which, thankfully, led them to a new place. It was another split, but this time with two options instead of five. 

“Again?”, Sirius groaned.

“Maybe we should split up this time”, Naricssa suggested, “Bella, you go with me to prevent you and Sirius from killing each other. We’ll go right, you go left. Yell if you find something or- or if something finds you”

Sirius carefully trailed down the left path, wand in hand. The Trail has blocked his magic, yes, but having his wand brings him some kind of comfort. Eventually, the path opened up and someone was waiting for him on the other side.

“Prongs?”

James Potter grinned, “Hey there, Padfoot”

Sirius stumbled back, “Stop it. You’re not James”

“You’re right, I’m not. But what if I told you I can bring you the real deal”

“What?”

James started to walk up to him, “Well, it’s more like I’ll bring you to him. You’ll die, sure, but I can make sure you’re reunited with your best friend. Lily too. I just need your consent and all of this will be over”, he grabbed Sirius’ arm and the escaped convict was suddenly overwhelmed with memories. Memories of what felt like an eternity ago, when he was truly happy. Back before Azkaban, before Halloween, before even the war. Where Remus wasn’t so gray. When it was them and James and Lily and Harry-

_ Harry _

Sirius pushed the fake James away, “No!”

James frowned, “No? Why not?”

“Believe me, it’s tempting. I’ve even considered it for a second. But I can’t die, not now. My godson needs me and- and if there’s even a chance of me finding happiness again, then I’m gonna take it”, he glared at the fake, “It’s what the  _ real  _ James would’ve wanted.” He said the truth, every bit of it. His life has been hell, but he’s still here, so that has gotta count for something. And there is no way he’s losing his life to a bloody cave. 

He was certain the Trail would just ignore the consent part and kill him anyway, but James smiled, “I knew you’d pass”

Sirius was taken aback, “What?”

“Your test. In all the centuries I have existed, few have passed the trials I create for them. You and your cousin are the first to succeed in such a long, long time”

“So James, Regulus, those were tests?”

James gave him a look, “I couldn’t just allow anyone to access me, can I? I have some standards you know.”

“People have died! You know that right?”, part of Sirius couldn’t believe he was arguing with a cave. The other part thought that if he can turn into a dog, a cave can be sentient. 

The Trail shrugged, “Dead mortals or not, you and Narcissa Malfoy can come in and use The Hollow Trail whenever you like. And since you’ve already passed your trials, I will no longer try to kill you.”

“Gee thanks”, Sirius said sarcastically, “So can we go now?”

“Sure. As soon as I’m done, you can leave”

“When you’re done?”

The atmosphere in the cave shifts. The usual playfulness James exhibited was gone, replaced with something else. Something wiser, older. Sirius could see the centuries in his eyes and he knew why so many people feared this place.

“There’s one more trial”, The Hollow Trail said, “And this one will be the hardest one”, and then it was gone. The earth rumbled and from the side a wall crumbled, revealing Bellatrix and Narcissa. 

“What happened?”, Narcissa asked.

“The Trail talked to me”, Sirius said, not quite believing it. Part of him thinks this is some kind of fever dream, “When we saw Regulus, it was a test. You passed it so it spared you. And me since I just passed mine right before you guys got here”

“So its letting us go?”

“Not yet. It said there’s one more, the hardest one”, he glanced behind Narcissa, to Bellatrix.

Bellatrix glared back at him, “What?”

“Well you’re the only one who hasn’t done it yet”

“So I’ll do it. I’ll pass this stupid test and then I’ll finally do what I came here for!”. 

A shriek came just as Bellatrix finished talking. A ghost flew into the room. Then another. And another. And so many more. Spirits, men and women, young and old, wizard and muggle, came in. Sirius gasped as he saw his old friend Marlene, along with other wizards he recognized from the first wizarding war. They all had one thing in common, they were all murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange. Sirius grabbed Narcissa’s arm and dragged her away from her sister as the ghosts started to surround Bellatrix. 

They flew faster and faster around her, circling and isolating her. They started to whisper and scream and Sirius couldn’t make any of it out but it was clear Bellatrix could.

“You think I care!?”, she shouted over the noise, “I don’t care! You all mean nothing to me!”. This only made the roar of the ghosts louder and she screamed in pain, her hands on her head, trying to block out the many voices of the remnants of her acts of evil. She fell to her knees. 

“Stop it stop it stop it stop it STOP IT”, she shouted. The spirits did not waver. She coughed and her blood fell onto the cave’s floor. 

“Its killing her”, Narcissa whispered in horror. 

Bellatrix screamed in agony again, “Ok fine! Every single life I take is in the name of my lord, not in my name! The blood on my hands haunt my every breath, the screams of my victims are in my nightmares, their dead eyes follow me wherever I go. You want me to say it, then I’ll say it! I FEEL GUILT!”

The storm died down. The ghosts slowed and one by one, quickly disappeared until the cave was full of eerie silence. Bellatrix fell fully to the ground. The Trail rumbled once more and the exit was revealed. Sirius had to blink a few times to adjust to the sudden sunlight. 

“Bella!”, Narcissa cried and helped her sister stand.

Bellatrix pushed her away as soon as she got on her feet, “Let's just get out of here”, she muttered as she stumbled out of the cave, Narcissa and Sirius following. 

They barely had time to bask in their found freedom, however. For as soon as Sirius was fully out of the cave, Bellatrix spun and aimed her wand at him.

“I told you that as soon as we get out of there we’re enemies”, she cackled, “Well we’re out!”

“Bella-”

“Quiet Cissy”

Sirius raised his arms, “Bellatrix please-”

“You think that one little bonding experience is gonna make me switch sides? Abandon what our family has held for generations?”

“Of course not. But let us walk away from this and live another day. All of us.”

“And why should I do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because I’m insane. Or maybe because I look at you and can still see my favorite cousin, even after everything you’ve done”

Bellatrix glared, but lowered her arm, “Fine. But the next time I see you, I won’t hesitate to kill you”

“I wouldn’t have it any either way”

“Come on Cissa”, Bellatrix said and walked away before apparating. Narcissa looked at Sirius, who grins and winks at her. She rolls her eyes and apparates away. Sirius gave the Trail one last glance. 

“Thank you”, he whispers, “For bringing my cousin back, even if it was only for a second”, and then too, disappears with a crack. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> In case it’s been a bit confusing, the trials all had to do with guilt. 
> 
> Narcissa- getting over guilt that wasn’t really hers to bare in the first place. 
> 
> Sirius- realizing that James and Lily’s deaths does not mean he should give up on life entirely. 
> 
> Bellatrix- admitting she even feels guilt before her pride literally kills her.


End file.
